STEPHEN LEQUESNE SENTENCED IN LIVERPOOL CASE AFTER TRAIN SEXUAL ASSAULTS
A convicted sex offender, Stephen Lequesne, was involved in a disturbing incident on a Merseyrail train where he targeted a 16-year-old girl traveling from Liverpool to Ormskirk.Lequesne, who was previously sentenced for rape, sat beside the teenage girl on a train last year.
During the journey, he blocked her into a set of seats with his legs resting on the opposite seats and proceeded to rub his genitals while sitting next to her.
The girl, feeling extremely frightened, missed her stop and waited until the train reached its final station in Ormskirk to exit.
When she attempted to catch another train back in the direction she wanted, Lequesne followed her.
He sat next to her again and performed the same inappropriate act, causing her to feel trapped and terrified.
Lequesne, 23, from Tuebrook, is currently serving a prison sentence for a brutal rape on Lord Street in Southport, for which he was sentenced to ten and a half years last month.
The attack involved him pulling a woman into bushes late at night, but he was stopped by a passerby who heard her screams, tackled him, and held him in a chokehold.
He is set to serve a minimum of seven years before becoming eligible for release.
During his sentencing for the Southport attack, authorities revealed that Lequesne had previously committed sexual acts on buses on two different occasions in September 2020.
Today, he was additionally sentenced for the incident that occurred just a month earlier on a train from Liverpool to Ormskirk.
Prosecutor Martine Snowdon described the events: "He made eye contact with her and was touching his genital area.
He then moved to sit beside her.
She felt trapped and could see his erect penis through his clothing.
She was so scared she stayed on until the train stopped in Ormskirk." After managing to board another train headed back in the proper direction, she discovered Lequesne had followed her again, sitting next to her and rubbing his genitals.
The girl was able to inform her family, who met her at the station.
CCTV footage later identified Lequesne.
Lequesne was found guilty of outraging public decency in his absence last month, after refusing to leave his cell for the trial, which took place just before his sentencing for the Southport rape.
During a brief court statement, the teenage girl expressed her anxiety about public transport following the incidents, stating she now carries alarms in case of future attacks.
She described the incident with Lequesne following her as particularly distressing, leaving her worried about what could have happened if help had not arrived at the station.
Lequesne had no legal representation during this hearing and only spoke briefly.
Judge David Potter sentenced him to 12 months in prison for outraging public decency, with the sentence to start immediately.
The judge emphasized that Lequesne’s actions of following the girl onto another train and masturbating over his clothing again amplified the severity of the incident, causing her significant alarm and distress.
The sentence will run concurrently with his ongoing rape sentence, and it will not affect his eligibility for release.
